Here We Go Again
by ivebeentwaumatized
Summary: Following the twins' first stay in Gravity Falls, twenty-year-old Wendy begins hear a recurring voice from the past. It taunts her, as if she needs to be warned, but she pushes it back. She tries to make the best of her first summer seeing Dipper and Mabel after three years, and everything seems to fall back into place. Almost. *Sequel to "First Time's a Charm". Read it first
1. Chapter 1

At 3:00 in the morning, sitting upright in her bed, all Wendy was doing was trying to forget. She had a layer of blankets wrapped around herself, and could hear the sound of heavy rain tapping on her window. The voice of a certain triangular demon echoed through her mind, taunting her.

_"I've had enough of this kid telling me what to do and what not to do. So Wendy, what do you choose?"_

It was a dream. It was a dream, yet for some reason did not feel like it was _just_ a dream. She brushed her hair back behind her ears; her hair wasn't as lengthy as it used to be but was still enough to cover her face like a long curtain.

Typically, Wendy didn't dwell on anything that happened the first summer the twins visited. She hadn't even thought about Bill Cipher since after she started college, which was almost two years ago. Heck, she hadn't _seen_ the Pines twins since a year before that. Wendy thought, _Why am I even thinking about this right now?_

The only times Bill contacted Wendy were weeks before the apocalypse began. He tried to stop her, Dipper, and everyone else from saving the world so that his demonic plans could not be stopped, which obviously did not work. Stanford came out of the portal, the inter-dimensional rift caused things to worsen until they were fixed, and the twins left Gravity Falls. That was it; this experience hadn't happened once since. Wendy recalled Bill being "defeated" but maybe he really wasn't. Bill was deceptive.

Wendy shook her head, then picked up her phone and preceded to open her texts with Dipper. The last text was sent by her two weeks ago; seeing the date below her message saddened her. Dipper had been busy with figuring out college, so they hadn't been talking much lately. She considered telling him that she had the dream, but she also didn't want him to freak out or anything, and the time was now 3:13 A.M. After internally debating, Wendy decided that she would tell him later if she still wanted to. _I'll talk to him again... soon._

The darkness of the room and the showers outside gave the feeling that the walls were closing around her, more and more each second she stared at the luminous little screen in front of her. Wendy snapped her phone shut.

Hastily, she placed her phone on her desk and finally laid down. She shut her eyes and tried harder to ignore Bill's voice. Her stomach felt like it was rising up, as if she was on an amusement park ride, and she felt really hot; it seemed to get worse every second. She inhaled deeply and then let the breath go.

If this was really a form communication from Bill, it definitely implied that something big was about to happen. Wendy just didn't know if it was a real message, or her imagination acting up.

 _Come on, Wendy,_ she thought. _Dipper is_ fine. _He still has his copy of the journal, and it was years ago, anyways._ _You're fine, Dipper's fine, and Bill isn't here._ Wendy closed her eyes. _It's not important._


	2. Chapter 2

"Wendy! If the shelves aren't restocked by the time I come out there you're going to have to stay late!" By now, Stan had said the same thing about five times within the past few hours. He had not come to check to see if the job had really been done.

"Yeah, sure Stan! I'll have that finished soon!" Wendy did not look up from her magazine.

"Dude," Soos said from the other side of the room where he was sweeping. The handyman, now thirty years old, still worked at the Mystery Shack. He still lived in the small town, but now with Melody; she graduated college and moved into an apartment with Soos. They were still dating, but Wendy knew Soos would be proposing soon. It both surprised Wendy yet didn't at the same time that they were still together, since Melody was Soos's first and only girlfriend. It's funny how things work out like that sometimes. "Are you sure you don't want me to restock for you?"

Wendy shrugged. "Nah, I can. I just don't really _want_ to. As usual. I guess I'll get started when I finish reading this article." Wendy dropped her spot and placed her eyes back on the first sentence.

"Sounds like a plan, dude." Soos nodded and went back to whistling while he was sweeping.

When she finally set down her reading, Wendy went over to the vending machine to grab a soda. Then she realized she didn't have any money. Where was her wallet? She went back over to the cash register and checked her bag, which was underneath the counter. Nothing. _I probably left it in the kitchen when I went to eat lunch_ , she thought. _I'll check there._

Stan was sitting on the couch without his suit on, looking as normally aggravated as ever.

"Hey, is my wallet in here?" Wendy asked while walking to the kitchen.

"Dunno. Did you restock the merchandise yet?"

Wendy spotted her wallet at the table and then pocketed it. "I was _just_ getting to that."

"Sure you were. When you actually do, can you raise the price on whatever you restock? It's a Saturday tomorrow, and that means tours, and that means tourists, and―"

"That means money," Wendy interjected. "Of course. I'll get to that right now."

"You better," Stan replied, "or you're fired."

"Whatever you say, boss..." Wendy wandered back into the gift shop, got her soda, and took a sip before grabbing the first item out of one of the boxes in front of the register. A snow globe of the Mystery Shack. _Yeah, if I had_ _two-hundred dollars I'd definitely spend it on a snow globe._

As she stocked the shelves, she heard the bell from the door being rung behind her. She placed another object on the shelf before speaking. "Welcome to the Mystery Shack, how can I help―" Wendy turned around, expecting to see someone from town or a tourist who was just now visiting Oregon. She almost thought the two people who walked through the door _were_ tourists, until she saw sweaters and a hat with a pine tree stitched onto the front.

"You can help us by carrying some of this upstairs!" Mabel giggled, dropping her things and ramming Wendy with a hug. Wendy hugged her back, and when she let her go, the girl started bouncing around. "I haven't been here in so long! Wendy I missed you so m-u-u-u-uch! And everyone else! Ahhhh! Look at all this! And―" That's when she screamed even louder than currently, and both of the other people in the room covered their ears. "WADDLES!" Wendy watched the girl―now almost as tall as her, who didn't have braces anymore. She wore sneakers and a skirt with paint-splattered leggings and a sweater that went off her right shoulder, had hair darker and shorter than before which was braided, and who seemed just as hyperactive as she was the last time Wendy saw her. She scampered through the door labeled "Employees Only."

"She's been like this for the past week." The voice from beside Wendy laughed, in a deeper tone than she had remembered. Now Wendy turned to him. She wasn't lying when she said he had shaped up a lot _._ He still had on his trademark hat, but now he was wearing a red flannel, jeans, and black sneakers. The beginning of a goatee was on his chin. He smiled, then held his arms out for a hug.

Wendy returned the smile, then hugged him. "Hey."

"Hey." Dipper held her against him and they kind of rocked from side-to-side.

"I haven't seen you in, like... three years."

"Aside from video chats," Dipper added.

"Those don't count," Wendy told him. They continued their hug for a while, until Wendy began to feel awkward and pulled away. She could see the happiness shining in Dipper's brown eyes. She kept her hands on his shoulders.

"I've... really missed you, you know. You guys should have come back and distracted me from college or work or something. Anything. Seriously, things are boring without you guys here."

Dipper shrugged, keeping his arms around Wendy's waist. "That's only because you never do anything interesting without us here."

"Hey..."

"It's true! I can bet ten bucks all you've done today is come to work, sit down and read a magazine, get a soda, ignore Grunkle Stan's complaining, and finally got to work right when something interesting _did_ happen."

"Not fair. You saw my soda, magazine, and me restocking the merch. AND you and Mabel coming back is the interesting thing that happened." She smirked. "Cheater."

Dipper playfully smacked her on the arm. "Shut up, it's true. Now help me bring all this upstairs."

Wendy carried Mabel's bags up to the twin's room. She wasn't really surprised at how heavy all the sweaters were. When she and Dipper set the stuff down, Mabel was hugging her pig.

"I love you I love you I missed you so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o much!"

"You enjoying yourself there, Mabes?" Wendy asked.

"Yes! I haven't seen Waddles in FOREVER! You guys took good care of him, right?" Waddles oinked as Mabel pet his head.

"Only prime care for the pig, man," Wendy said.

"Not prime meat." Dipper commented.

"Be quiet Dipper! We're having a moment!" Mabel said. She put her face up against her pig. "It's okay Waddles, I'll never let you be turned to bacon..."

"We should probably go back downstairs..." Wendy whispered.

Dipper threw his hat onto his bed, nodded and led the way. When they got to the living room, Stan was standing there, waiting. He was smiling. "Wow, someone's grown up while I wasn't looking!" Stan ruffled his hair and pulled him into a hug.

"I missed you, Grunkle Stan."

"You too, Dipper..." Stan pushed Dipper away to take a look at him. He seemed to be... proud that Dipper had grown up.

"Stan, are you crying?" Dipper inquired.

"No way, kiddo. Maybe _you_ need glasses." Dipper laughed at Stan's comment.

"Did Mabel already come see you?" Dipper asked.

Stan nodded. "Yeah, she did. Then once I let go of her she ran off to go see her pig. Still a ball of energy like always..." He sighed. "You should go out and do something now, because you start work tomorrow, and we're expecting tours to be full."

Dipper used a hand to solute. "Aye-aye, Stan." His grunkle nodded and sat back down, so Dipper went back out to the gift shop. Wendy followed his lead.

"We should talk more," Wendy suggested.

"The roof?" Dipper pointed up.

 _Just like old times._ "I think that sounds great, and I'll get the sodas. I found a way to get the machine to give you them for free."

"Yeah you told me about that. You've _gotta_ show me." Dipper dragged Wendy outside to the Pitt Cola machine. "Work your magic, Corduroy. You can use this to pay off some of those ten dollars."

Wendy rolled her eyes and approached the machine. "Well, you know how the regular-flavored ones are right behind where the logo is?" Dipper nodded. "You just gotta..." She slammed a fist right in the middle of the "I" in "Pitt Cola," and again on the side. She heard a soda fall from the machine, then repeated the process again so there was a drink for each of them. Wendy grabbed a soda in each hand from the machine and handed one to Dipper. "That's how you do it."

Dipper said, "Nice."

"I know right?" Wendy smiled. "Now c'mon man. Let's go talk."


	3. Chapter 3

Wendy popped open the tab on her soda can at the same time Dipper did. "Cheers," she said. They clinked the aluminum together and then each took a few sips. The temperature outside was perfect, just between warm and cool. A slight breeze came by from time to time; it was nice.

"So-o-o..." Dipper began. He looked down at his feet. "How've things been in Portland?"

Wendy sighed. "I love Portland, but it's as good as college can get. It's also weird that I don't see any of my friends until break, but at least I still have Tambry to hang out with. We share a dorm."

"Nice. Hey, a while ago, you said that one of the classes you started taking last year is―"

"Cryptology, yeah," Wendy smirked.

Dipper's eyes lit up. "I see I got you interested."

"You did man, and it's awesome. I mean, I'm taking classes for stuff I'm planning to get a job with, but you should just hope I don't become better at hunting monsters than you."

"You never will!" Dipper exclaimed.

"S-u-u-re." Wendy replied, teasing him.

Dipper nudged her in the arm. "Shut up." They laughed.

Wendy took a jab at asking Dipper questions of her own. "How have things been for you and Mabel back at home?"

"They've been okay," Dipper shrugged. "Honestly, I can't wait to leave and go to college and get to take classes I actually like. At least I've only got one more year... But high school isn't too bad. Uh, when was the last time we actually talked in person?"

"Man, it was like, three summers ago." Wendy's words had a slight incredulous tone within. She really hadn't seen the twins since they were fifteen. This summer they were going to become adults. It was hard to believe.

"Okay, so Mabel and I weren't even in high school yet. I guess I'll recap, because I didn't explain a lot of this in our video chats and texts. Basically, freshman year sucked for me. Uh, not for Mabel though, she's friends with like, _the whole school_ , no lie. I'm friends with about one percent of those people. But, it's not a big deal, because I'm gonna be the leader of the Paranormal Investigation Club next year, since the last guy graduated, and I'm pumped. There isn't too much paranormal activity in Piedmont but the club is still awesome."

"Dude, that's great!" Wendy tried to act like this was the first time she heard some of the information, but Dipper actually did state a lot of that stuff through video chats or text. In a sense, though, it was kind of refreshing to see him talk right in front of Wendy. She took in the way his eyebrows furrowed at things he was mildly annoyed with, how he rolled his eyes when he thought something was just ridiculous, or crossed his arms, and the way he looked at her when it was her turn to speak.

"I know," Dipper responded. "I'm pretty sure the principal thinks we're all crazy, though."

Wendy snorted. "That's because you are."

"I know." Dipper sipped his soda. "That's about it, so last thing. What's been happening here?"

"Uh, everything is still same as it is since last time you visited. Stan is still cheap, Ford is still working on his research, Soos still works here and he's still with Melody, and I still fall asleep at the counter." Wendy took a drink from her soda can. "Same old, same old. The only thing that's different is that you guys haven't been here." She leaned against Dipper's side. "Everything sucks when you guys aren't here."

"I agree. I'm just glad we're back and talking in real life."

"I am too," Wendy said.

Dipper put his arm around Wendy's shoulder, and they sat there for who knows how long. They were silent and the birds were chirping; it was such a nice moment that Wendy thought something would ruin it, but she started thinking. She took a small peek at Dipper out of the corner of her eyes. Dipper seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her for the moment, probably since a small part of him was still embarrassed about showing affection to her, even if platonic, because of his previous crush. Wendy thought about the way he gazed at her when she talked to him just now, specifically how his eyes lit up when she mentioned she took a cryptology course the past two semesters. Wendy's mind suddenly took her back to the day she scanned all possible college courses on her computer roughly a year ago, seeing Cryptology on the list. The year before it hadn't crossed her mind, but the first thing it made her think of at that moment was Dipper, and also Mabel and their one summer in Gravity Falls.

She missed them.

She signed up for the class.


	4. Chapter 4

For the first time in years, Wendy was early to work on purpose. She strolled in twenty minutes before her shift even began, which surprised everyone, including herself.

Wendy entered the gift shop and went through the "Employees Only" door, then the living room, where she left her belongings, and finally was in the kitchen. "Hey, Stan, hey Ford," Wendy said, pulling a chair from underneath the table, which was next to Ford's seat. He was reading the newspaper, keeping up with the times.

Ford raised a hand while saying, "Hello, Wendy."

"Wait, Wendy?" Stanley's voice was filled with confusion. "You're _early_ to work?" He was cooking breakfast for Dipper, Mabel, himself, and his brother; the aroma of pancakes filled the air.

"Yeah, I am, Stan," Wendy said defensively. "It was bound to happen at some point."

"Did you get here early just so you could hang out with Dipper and Mabel?" Stan questioned. He probably got that from the tone of her voice. The batter in the pan Stan was dealing with sizzled.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I guess so. Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just thinking about how you being at work early is going to make me more money." Classic Stan.

"Of course you are." Wendy rolled her eyes.

Stan looked down at pancake he was cooking, then flipped it over. "You want some breakfast?"

Wendy shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so." Stan brought over a plate with a few pancakes for Wendy, and the silverware was already set out, so she began devouring her meal.

"Wendy, look at this," Ford held out his newspaper to show Wendy something, when their conversation was interrupted. From upstairs, the chatter from a certain set of twins started to become audible. At first, the sounds were just mumbled, but then the two began descending down the stairs. The first distinct voice Wendy heard was Mabel's

"Dipper, I'm just saying, that vampire was hot!"

"Yeah, and," Dipper told her, "he was a vampire. He was probably going to suck your blood."

"I'd prefer that over a lot of things. Being a vampire wouldn't really be _that_ bad." Mabel was about to take a seat to dine when she noticed Wendy sitting there alongside Ford. "Wendy!" She exclaimed, rushing in to hug the red-head.

Wendy hugged her back. "Hey, Mabes."

"I didn't know you could get here early, let alone on time," Dipper said.

"Well―"

"Wendy got here early so she could spend time with you guys," Stan interrupted.

"Is that so?" Dipper quizzed. He raised an eyebrow, sliding into the chair on Wendy's left.

Wendy lifted her fork and involved it in her hand gestures as she spoke. "Yeah, yeah. I just missed you guys, okay?"

"And we missed you too, Wendy!" Mabel let go of Wendy, who looked over at Dipper for him to confirm he missed her. She already knew the answer before he said it, though.

"Yeah, we did."

Ford ruffled the newspaper. "Yes, yes, we all missed each other, but we're together now. Could one of you kids go turn on the news channel?" Wendy knew the twins said hello to Ford at dinner the night before, along with Soos, who joined for the occasion, and caught them up on everything.

"I'm on it!" Mabel went over to the TV to fulfill her duty.

"Thank you, Mabel," Ford said.

Mabel called back, "You're welcome!" and was quiet for about five seconds, until she yelled, "I HATE EVERYTHING!" She was on the floor, and decided to fall down onto her side in agony, rewinding the television.

At that moment, Soos entered the room. "Hey dudes. What's going on?" Mabel continued her whining, so Soos walked over to the TV. "What's this about?" Then he read, "Lil' Gideon Gleeful Escaped From Prison Once More, Now At Large," off the screen and he froze. "Oh, dudes, that doesn't sound good."

Stan went to stand over by Soos, followed by Dipper, Mabel, Wendy, and Ford. "What, WHAT?" Then Stan looked at the screen in front of him, saw Gideon, and said, "Oh boy. That's not good."

"It's more than not good, Mr. Pines!" Soos shook on his boss's shoulder. "What if Gideon comes back for the Mystery Shack?"

Stan rolled his eyes. "Please. That brat knows not to mess with us. We already sent him to jail. Twice."

Dipper put his face in his hands. "Ugh. Right after we get here, this has to happen. I bet Gideon's gonna try to summon a demon again and screw everything up for us."

Ford stared incredulously at the television, shaking his head. "I still can't believe that little kid got a hold of one of my journals." Mabel shushed him, because the story finally began. The group kept their eyes glued to the television as the newscaster was shown, and as she spoke.

" _I'm Shandra Jimenez with breaking news from the prison here in Gravity Falls. After five years of spending time in jail for breaking the hearts of the whole town, escaping, then being caught again, Lil' Gideon Gleeful has broken out of prison. This morning he was found missing from his cell. His whereabouts are currently unknown, but sources say he could not have gotten farther than five miles from the town since he was last accounted for last night. More on this story later."_

Everyone was silent for a minute, not knowing what to say. The newscaster's voice echoed through Wendy's ears. They'd all thought that Gideon was never going to come back into their lives, like, ever. Wendy certainly didn't, and really hoped so too. Thanks to this news report, she was going to have to start hiding her moisturizer again.

"If he comes anywhere near us, I'm gonna hit him in the head with my grappling hook!" Mabel suddenly and forcefully declared.

"Mabel," Wendy reminded her, "he's been in prison for _five years._ I doubt his hair is taller and buffer than him anymore. I mean, that could still work, but..."

Dipper added, "Yeah. But still, do you really think he'll come straight for the Shack? What's he gonna get from it? We've all got the journals under our protection, the portal and rift are gone, and we've got Great Uncle Ford and Grunkle Stan alongside us. Even with his friends from prison, we could take him. And Bill's basically banished from existence, so, you know, there's not that much to worry about."

Mabel sighed, slumping her shoulders when she exhaled. A strand of hair fell out from the clip holding it in place and into her face. "I guess so," she replied. "But even as a nine year old, Gideon managed to summon a demon, get a hold on that magical amulet, and attempt to kill you, Dipper."

"That was less than a week after we got here, when we knew like, nothing about anything."

"Okay, okay, I see your point, Bro." As Mabel spoke, Waddles trotted up to her and climbed into her lap. He oinked. "EEE," Mabel squealed. "I'm cured of my fears. Waddles, you're magical." Her eyes lit up.

Wendy giggled. She saw Stanley and Ford smiling warmly at Mabel and her pig, whom Soos was leaning down to pet. Wendy glanced at Dipper, who looked back at her directly in eyes. They suddenly had this weird silent moment, like an agreement that they were in such a nice place. It felt so natural to all be there together, even though they had grown up. In the short time since the twins arrived, it seemed like all the things they loved about the previous summers were falling back into their place―at least that's what Wendy thought.

After turning away from Dipper, she was staring directly at the window in the living room, the window with a diamond and triangle pattern. The window was colored yellow, and seeing that made Wendy realize that maybe Bill was still around. Why else would she start dreaming about him again? Of course, it could have been a coincidence. _Yeah, it has to be a coincidence,_ Wendy thought.

She shook aside what was nagging in her head, denying that anything bad could happen. She assured herself that it was just her stress acting up. As she had told herself after her dream about Bill two days before, there was nothing to worry about.

Wendy tapped Dipper on the shoulder. "You know," she told him, "I think this might end up being one of the best summers we've ever had."


	5. Chapter 5

"Doesn't it feel kinda unreal to all be back here, together?" Wendy questioned Dipper and Mabel, but also herself.

The three were in an enclosed area of the forest, where the lush green grass grew tall as well as the trees, swaying to the motion the breeze. She gazed up at the sky while laying down, so she couldn't directly see the scenery. She knew what was there though, and there were little glances Dipper gave her, followed by smiles, or Mabel rolling her eyes in response, though she could visualize it all.

"I guess so," Mabel said. She was sitting upright, her arms wrapped around her legs. As she spoke, she kept her attention on the trees and sky. "Just 'cause Dipper and I are, like, almost adults now, which is weird. We were so young last time we were here, and now we're so... not!" Mabel threw her arms out at her sides, accidentally slapping Dipper's arm in the process.

Dipper tilted his body away from his sister in reaction. "Ow, Mabel!"

"Sorry Bro-bro!"

"It's fine, sis." Dipper glanced down at the ground, laid down, then switched his gaze between Wendy and Mabel while talking. "I do agree with Mabel, though. Everything has changed since the last time we were in Gravity Falls. It all seems kinda... off, I guess? Especially since we were so used to all that intense stuff, and nothing has happened yet. I'm expecting something to go wrong."

"Come on, man," Wendy pressed, nudging his side. "Don't think like that." Despite her words, in her heart she knew that she felt the same way as he did; she truly was worried. Even through all these years, her chill outer shell masked her inner worry, and it worked well. Wendy just hoped that the twins couldn't see through that right now, because for once, the three of them weren't collectively freaking out in some way, and they were together again. She didn't want to ruin the moment.

"I'm just saying," Dipper protested.

Mabel added, "Yeah, even I agree a little bit, and I'm the optimistic one."

"Well it makes sense, but... I dunno." Wendy shrugged. "I could get used to this. I mean, fighting monsters and all that was fun, but it's nice to just relax like this, y'know?"

Dipper nodded. "Yeah, I do. And it's a lot less exhausting."

"We don't have to worry about our lives being on the line every second of every day," Mabel agreed. "I can worry more about if I have enough of the right color of yarn for my sweaters rather than Bill possessing me or something like that."

"You don't have a reason to worry about that anymore." Dipper shuddered, looking as if he was becoming cold, even in the summer heat. "I still think about that sometimes, though."

"Well, at least nothing's happened with him since we got rid of him." Wendy paused. "Nothing _has_ happened involving Bill since then with you, right?" She hadn't thought about if Bill had contacted anyone else in some way aside from her. If nobody else had been having dreams, what was going on?

"No. It's not like anything could anyways, since we got rid of Bill that one summer." Dipper must have caught some of what she was thinking from her eyes, because he then asked, "Why? Did something happen to _you_ with Bill?" Wendy didn't respond immediately, earning a stern, "Wendy."

Wendy shook her head, like it was a way to get her thoughts out of her body. "No, no! Dude, I just lost my train of thought. If something happens, I'll tell you guys, okay?" Some guilt built up in Wendy's voice from the fib, though the analytical Dipper Pines didn't seem to take much notice, unlike his sister. When Wendy took a peek at Mabel, her face was a contorted mixture of annoyance and disappointment towards what was just said. Wendy avoided catching her gaze.

Wendy he turned her head so that it was resting on Dipper's shoulders. With eyes closed, she exhaled. Out of nowhere, she went from awake to burned out, like she was being controlled. She didn't want that at first, but her eyelids were heavy, and keeping them closed felt really nice.

"Yeah, I know you will," Dipper responded. He brushed the side of his head against hers―since they were laying down, it was like a way of squeezing her shoulder for reassurance. Wendy smiled. It made her feel comforted. Letting that feeling take over was soothing, so she did nothing to stop it. Wendy released her worries, and they faded away as she slipped into slumber.


	6. Chapter 6

Upon awakening, Wendy felt as if she was in a dream. Though slightly sluggish, she sat up with comfort. She yawned, then turned to speak to her friends. "Hey Dipper, Mabel, I..." When she turned to look at them, though, they were nowhere to be found. She was alone.

The ground which Wendy was sitting on seemed to be the same, but once she took in her surroundings, she realized she wasn't in the Gravity Falls forest anymore. It was almost, to her, the perfect forest. It was different than where she had been with Dipper and Mabel, because the trees surrounded her in a circular shape, leaving a large clear field of grass with little white flowers adorning it. She recognized those flowers, causing her heart to pound against her chest; she averted her attention to something else there. The trees were tall, too many feet high to see most of the peaks. The scenery reminded her both of her hometown and Portland at the same time, from the smell to the feeling of the crisp air, though it wasn't either of those places. _Where am I?_

"MABEL!" she called. DIPPER!" When she received her response, the voice was not that of either of the twins; she jumped out of surprise.

"Oh, they're not here, Red." Descending from the sky was none other than the triangular demon that Wendy had a strong disliking for. Her first thought was that he was probably gonna pull some shitty trick on her again, like when he guilted her into burning Journal 3. She heightened her senses, told herself to keep her head on straight.

"Bill!" she exclaimed.

"Bill indeed! Did ya miss me?" Bill floated towards her and poked her cheek, compelling her to smack his hand away.

"Where are we? What the hell are you doing?! Can't you just leave us alone for once?" Wendy asked him. She crossed her arms, attempting to look as frustrated as she felt. Bill really _was_ trying to contact her. Maybe now it was a good idea to tell Dipper what was happening.

"I'm just here, in your mind, enjoying finally being free," Bill extended his arms and legs outward, like he was waking up from a nap, "after so-o-o-o-o long! Boy, it's great to be back, Red! Being back in this dimension, seeing old friends..." He snapped his fingers. "Hey, I suppose you are too, huh? How 'bout we just talk for a while? How is it seeing Pine Tree and Shooting Star again?" All around the two, the forest seemed to fade. Wendy's body magically lifted itself into the air beside Bill's. A table popped between them, with a can of Pitt Cola on it. The force lifting her up subsided, throwing Wendy into an arm chair. She squinted her eyes at the drink, then Bill, and proceeded to grab the soda. Bill seemed to be reading her thoughts, because he said, "Go ahead, Red. Nothing weird in it, just your normal soda. I promise."

Wendy cracked open the can and took a sip. Sure enough, like Bill said, it was normal soda. She hesitated. "What are you playing at?"

Bill rolled his eye, which looked a bit odd since he only had the single pupil rolling across his face. "I don't always have to be up to something."

"But you are right now."

"Touché." A chair to match her own fizzled in behind the triangle, and he sat down in it, crossing his legs. "You know, Red, you're a lot smarter than you think. You're catching everything so fast. It took the rest of the Pines family a long, long time to realize I had been cleverly tricking them, but not you!"

"I'm not a Pines."

"See what I mean?"

Wendy pressed her lips together. As she had said, Bill was indeed doing something, and whatever it was, it was kind of working. What was weird was how he seemed to be less of a threat than she had thought. She wasn't sure if she really wanted that, though, because that could mean falling further into the trap she knew he was planning. Wendy could end up listening to everything he said and believe it. She was about to ask Bill what he knew about Gideon's escape, but then idea dawned on her upon. She turned her contemplative expression into one mirroring sincerity. She smiled. "...Yeah. Thanks, I guess."

"Don't mention it, Red," Bill responded.

Wendy looked down at her feet, trying to sound as grave as possible without it appearing fake. "I have missed Dipper and Mabel. Three years probably is nothing to you, but it was the longest time ever for me."

Bill raised the top of his eye. "Was it?"

"Yeah, it was." Wendy gulped down the rest of her soda, placing the can back on the table. "I guess―" While in the middle of speaking, a buzzing noise thundered through the distance, causing everything to rumble. It sounded like the text tone on Dipper's phone. Wendy asked over the noise, "What is that?"

"You're waking up! I guess I should go, since I can't stay here once you're not sleeping," Bill told her. "But hey, Red, you'll see me again soon, in your dreams!"

Bill's form waned out into thin air, changing into a bright light. Once again, Dipper's phone buzzed, even louder. The phone making noise, along with a flash of white light from Bill's disappearance, made Wendy snap awake.

Wendy gasped, jolting upright. She breathed in and out heavily. Did Bill really just talk to her in her mind, or was that just her imagination creating a dream? Wendy hoped it was the latter, but the aftertaste of Pitt Cola in her mouth told her otherwise.

The voice of Mabel brought her out of her thought. "Wendy! Are you okay?" She felt hands on both of her shoulders, which, when she looked, were Dipper and Mabel.

"I... I'm fine," Wendy lied.

"You were being a little restless when you fell asleep. Are you sure?"

" _Guys_ ," Wendy said, sternly, "I'm okay. Dipper, check your text already."

Dipper examined her face curiously. At this point, he probably was able to detect a real difference between what she said and her expression, but didn't say anything about it. "Yeah, okay. You could hear it?"

"It woke me up," Wendy informed him. Dipper went ahead and turned on his phone. Sure enough, he had a text from Soos. Dipper opened it to find a message and a picture. Once he read the message, his face contorted, and he clicked on the picture. His eyes widened.

Mabel saw her brother's expression. "Dipper, what is it?"

"It's a note," he told the two others, gulping between words, "from Gideon."


	7. Chapter 7

"Dudes, I dunno how Gideon even got this inside the Shack, but I was just sweeping and saw it on the counter." In his hand, Soos held the note from Lil' Gideon that had given the other three people in the room a scare. Compared to the hand it was held in, the piece of paper appeared small. Wendy knew, though, that even something little on a sticky note from that white-haired child could have huge significance.

After hearing the news of this message from Gideon, Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy all rushed back to the Mystery Shack so they could see it in person. Wendy didn't want to leave that serene area of the forest, yet she realized it got her out of explaining her dream about Bill, which was both good and bad. She knew she shouldn't keep it to herself, but every time she thought about telling someone, her stomach knotted up like headphones in a pocket, and she had trouble untangling it.

"Soos," Dipper said, pressingly, "what does the letter say?"

"Yeah, right." Soos cleared his throat and began to speak.

"'Beloved Pines family,

Isn't it unbelievable that I escaped prison? I find it interesting! It's been so nice to be free, to not

Languish over life outside of this cold hard prison, not to be watched, to see old friends. Indeed, the

Lovely Mabel and Dipper, I've been expecting you two back here for a long time now. How have those

Incredible lives of yours been? How have your mysteries been, Dipper? After all this time, are things

Interesting with those journals, still? Mabel, my Peach Dumpling, I truly hope that you are doing so so

So well! In fact, I hope your whole family is all just great! Really, I should have never been so mean,

Because y'all didn't deserve that. Although I have just escaped, it was indeed for good reasons, really

And truly. Please don't feel angry with me. I'm a changed man, and I want to restart. Please forgive me.

Could y'all do that? Bless your souls.

Kick back and relax, Pines! I can't wait to see y'all soon!

― Gideon'"

"Okay, does Gideon really want to befriend us?" Dipper questioned. "Because I really doubt that he 'blesses our souls.'"

"I hope not." Mabel shuddered. "Even if puberty made him attractive, I can't stand him calling me his 'Peach Dumpling'. Have you guys ever actually seen a peach dumpling? They don't look that great."

"But dudes," Soos said, "why is he even sending this anyways? If he escaped prison, wouldn't it be because he has some plan?"

"Yeah, there has to be some hidden message in this." Wendy rolled her eyes and snorted. "I mean, Gideon's weird, but this sounds like an essay with a minimum word count. Soos, lemme see that." When the handyman gave her the letter, she scanned it for anything weird. "Has Gideon ever sent you guys any messages with the first letter of every line capitalized?"

Dipper snapped his fingers. "Oh man, yeah, I think so."

"It said something like, 'HELP ME ESCAPE PRISON OR BE DESTROYED'. What kind of little kid sends things like that?" Mabel said.

"The kind of little kid that's like Gideon," Dipper responded. "Wendy, read the capitalized letters."

"Okay, uh..." Wendy went down the line, figuring out words as she went. "B... I... BILL... Uh, BILL IS..." Once she read the whole thing, she trailed off at the end. Of course, now she'd have to tell Dipper what was going on, and worry him, Mabel, and everyone else. _This is great_.

"Dude, Bill is _what?_ " Soos asked.

Wendy sighed. "It says, 'BILL IS BACK.'"

"Oh-h-h-h great," Dipper groaned. "First we have to deal with Gideon, and now Bill too. I was really hoping to relax this summer."

Out of the corner of her eye, Wendy knew Mabel saw the corners of her mouth turn down. "Yeah," she said, disappointment in her voice, "me too."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm sooo sorry for the long wait between chapters! I've been having a hard time deciding some of what's going on because I've changed my mind or canon has made it really ooc for those events to occur. I kind of ran out of inspiration for this fic for a little while too, but I just opened up the doc and suddenly the route kind of took its course. I wrote a couple pages all at once, and I might be writing more over the next few weeks now that I've gotten the chapter finished. I wanna finish before Gravity Falls ends, so I'll try for that. Thank you guys for being so patient and for still following the story! This chapter is a long one and I really like it. I hope the wait has been worth it though and you guys enjoy the rest!**

* * *

"You know, Red, we never continued our little chat." Bill Cipher twirled his cane in his hands, looking at Wendy with his single eye, but she wasn't looking back.

"Yeah, I'm aware," Wendy replied, agitatedly.

"Whoa, whoa, what's with the 'tude? I'm just trying to have a conversation here! Relax!"

"I'm relaxed. I'm just pissed off." Wendy held her head in one of her hands, with a can of Pitt Cola in the other. Both she and Bill were floating in her dreamscape again, the one with the little white flowers dotting the ground and the forest-like atmosphere. Wendy stared down at the ground below, counting the flowers, avoiding the exchange at hand.

"There're 2,736 flowers there. It's useless counting," Bill offered. When Wendy shrugged the comment off, Bill's tone somehow became quieter. Even though Wendy knew he was speaking at his normal volume of screaming, it was as if he manipulated Wendy's mind to impale the words he was saying into her brain. "Red, I'm here to chat. That's literally why we're here right now. To chat."

Wendy leaned forward and placed her can of soda on the magic table, which appeared in all of Wendy's dreams with Bill. "Well, I don't want to anymore."

"...Why so?" Bill squinted his eye. "Look, I'm not here to ruin things for you, really, but if you want to let your own insecurities and fears get in the way of what might be good for you, then go ahead! Be my guest! I really _can't_ even do anything, remember? You and the Pines ruined my existence by banishing me from it?"

Slowly, Wendy raised her head up to look the triangle straight in the eye. "Then how the _hell_ are you even talking to me?"

"Well, you see," Bill explained, "it's not too complicated. I'm a dream demon, and a being such as myself thrives in the mind. I escaped the mindscape many summers ago, and it was great, but beings that thrive in the mind have more weaknesses outside of it. That's why I was defeated, not completely disintegrated, though. I was kind of... deleted from _physical_ existence.. I can still travel through the mind and people's subconscious, so I just did that to get out of the place in the universe I was after you guys tried to kill me. Man, some other dimensions really aren't good at securing their minds." Bill paused. "You know, it doesn't really matter. Anyways, your turn to talk."

Wendy opened her mouth to speak, then closed it and pursed her lips. There was no reason for Bill to be talking to her unless he wanted something, but not once yet within this past week had he tried to bargain. Not once this week had he done anything to trick Wendy. All he'd done was act like an asshole, which was nothing new. Whatever Bill wanted now had to do with Gideon, she knew that already. She just didn't know what exactly, although hearing Bill speak of being banished from existence gave her the sickening feeling of the demon wanting back in. She pushed the wariness back and prompted, "Why me?"

"Why you _what_?"

"Why are you talking to _me_ and not to Dipper, Mabel, Stan or Ford, or even Soos? I mean, if you wanna start some Weirdmageddon shit again―"

"Oh, please. That probably won't happen till thousands of years after you and everyone you know are dead!" Bill intruded.

Wendy continued, "Look, triangle, I just don't get why you're talking to me." She looked him straight in the eye. "I've got nothing to offer you right now."

Bill's face contorted to what she thought to be a smirk if he had more than just an eye. Just two words slipped past his tongue: "I know."

―――

"Wendy?"

The redhead blinked, rubbing her hands against her eyelids. "What?" she asked, thinking her dad wanted her to do something for him. As always. She hadn't even realized she was asleep, and didn't really want to go cut down a tree in that moment. "I'm awake!"

"You better stay awake, 'cause you promised me a movie night." Hearing the last few words, Wendy eyed the end of her bed. Dipper sat there, one hand stretched farther out in her direction, like he'd been reaching for her as he called her name. "They've got some really bad movies on tonight, I checked online."

Wendy smacked the top of her head. She sat up in the bed, covers falling over her legs. Her hair was a little bit of a mess, and all she was wearing was a tank top and flannel pants. "Oh man, dude, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sleep for so long."

"Hey, it's cool. I thought you were sleeping when you didn't answer my text so I just came over here." Dipper used his arms to push himself backward so that he ended up sitting right next to Wendy. He was close; she could feel his presence creating heat between them.

Wendy sat up. Her arm brushed against Dipper's but she didn't even make an attempt to move it. "Hey." She turned to face her friend. "Just like old times, huh?"

Dipper nodded, then replied with, "Well almost." Wendy frowned in confusion until Dipper placed his hand atop his head and ran it through the air to Wendy's. The side of his hand hit the top of her head. He was almost as tall as her, less than an inch between them now.

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up."

"You know you love me," Dipper teased.

"Ha-ha," Wendy replied. She knew they were joking, but then she felt her cheeks and ears begin to burn. Something fluttered in her stomach. _I'm sick, I've just gotta be feeling sick_. "Is my head warm?"

Dipper placed the back of his hand against her forehead. "A little bit. You feeling okay?"

"Uh... I dunno, I guess. Maybe I'm just cold." Wendy shrugged off Dipper's question. When she saw the concern on his face, she began to feel slightly guilty. "Hey, hey, man, I'm okay. Really."

"You've been saying that for the past few days, Wendy. Are you sure nothing is bothering you?" What prompted her to not push away his comfort this time was the look of hurt that gleamed inside his brown eyes. They'd been friends for five years. Good friends. Best friends. Not telling Dipper something when she had the chance was pretty rare at this point.

"I..." Slowly, Wendy spoke. "I've been... having nightmares. Pretty frequently." That's not really a lie, she told herself. Just not the whole truth.

"Oh." Dipper broke eye contact, looking down at the orange pine trees and dots on the comforter Wendy's bed. "Uh... can I ask what they're about?"

"Um, well..."

"You don't have to tell me!" Dipper quickly added. He raised his arms to place his hands on her shoulders. Wendy tensed at his touch, then relaxed when he continued. "I just want to make sure you're okay." His tone softened, as did his expression. Wendy could tell that he completely meant it.

The redhead hesitated, but couldn't stand how _concerned_ he was. It almost hurt to think about.

Wendy then told him the truth. "Bill," she blurted, and when Dipper's eyes widened in response, she hurriedly explained in more detail. "...and it really isn't _scary_ or anything. Just kind of freaky, because I didn't think that of all people, he would come and talk to me."

"Are you sure," Dipper asked, "that you're not just dreaming it up?"

Wendy shook her head. "No way, man. You've met him before, you know what it's like. There is absolutely _no way_ that it wasn't just a dream."

Dipper stayed silent, deep in thought before responding to the prior statement. "You lied to me."

Wendy winced, a pang of guilt traveling through her. "Yeah." Her voice was soft, sad.

" _Why?_ "

Something about the tone of Dipper's voice hit Wendy, and hard. Her breath hitched in her throat. "I-I didn't want you to worry Dipper. About me. Nothing's been going wrong with it, so I just thought..."

"What did you think, that he was suddenly gonna be full of sunshine?" Dipper asked sarcastically.

"No! He's still an asshole, Dipper. Just..." She inhaled, trying to let air clear the lump in her throat. "...It didn't seem like he was gonna cause trouble when you asked before, okay? When it began, I _swear_ that I didn't know about Gideon being in contact with Bill again, and I didn't know that they had a plan." Dipper's pent up annoyance began to subside, his expression melting back to normal but didn't quite make it all the way. Wendy knew that he wasn't gonna stop worrying about this any time soon. "Besides, since when did this matter so much to you anyways?"

"Since Bill basically destroyed the world..." Shaking his head, Dipper sighed. "I just don't wanna have to deal with all those overwhelming parts of Gravity Falls again, like almost dying, you know? And I don't want you to have to deal with it either, Wendy."

Wendy smiled a little smile, teasing the only other person in the room. "Aww, som-m-meon-n-n-ne cares-s-s-s about me-e-e-e."

"Come on, shut up." Dipper laughed airily, nudging Wendy in her side.

"You know you love me," she continued in a mocking tone, her small smile turning into a sly grin.

At the comment Dipper's face began to show some pink underneath. "Well―"

Before Dipper could finish, the television began to play music, and the announcer spoke. " _You're watching the Gravity Falls Bargain Movie Showcase. Up next..._ "

"Oh, the movies are starting," Dipper stated. He coughed.

"Yeah, uh, let's watch them," Wendy replied awkwardly, shifting her weight onto one arm and resting there. She took a look at Dipper, and after a few seconds realized that he was intentionally trying not to return her gaze.

Neither of the two had a real conversation again until after their movie night ended. Sure, they joked. However, the whole time it was awkward, from after Dipper decided what he was going to say could wait. The way he began made it appear as though he was about to admit that he... that he really did love her. Wendy thought about it the whole night, how his cheeks turned pink when he processed what she said. Of course it didn't surprise her that he could feel that way, it just never occurred to her until now that he still did. Or at least in that way. Maybe it wasn't still in that way, and it was a friendship thing. If it was though, why was Wendy feeling so antsy? She tried to deny that she maybe felt the same way he could have when he teased her, and told herself that it had to just be a friendship thing.

Yeah. That's it.

Before she went to sleep, that movie night continued playing over and over in her head. She didn't even remember any of the movies that aired, because she was zoned out through the entirety of it. Dipper seemed to be too. Even though he didn't seem too mad, he was frustrated with her for not telling him about Bill. There was no doubt he was sitting around during the movies considering what Wendy told him. No doubt he was worried about her, too, even though she told him it was okay. And maybe it was really okay. Dipper would probably be on edge with her for the next couple days, but nothing she couldn't handle. Maybe nothing would go wrong.

Wendy rolled over in her bed. _It doesn't matter. Right?_


End file.
